The following is the Aug. 31, 2021 Congressional Research Service report, Navy John Lewis (TAO-205) Class Oiler Shipbuilding Program: Background and Issues for Congress.
From the report
The Navy procured its first John Lewis (TAO-205) class oiler in FY2016, and a total of six have been procured through FY2021, including the fifth and sixth in FY2020. The first six TAO-205s are being procured under a block buy contract that was authorized by Section 127 of the FY2016 National Defense Authorization Act (S. 1356/P.L. 114-92 of November 25, 2015), and are being built by General Dynamics/National Steel and Shipbuilding Company (GD/NASSCO) of San Diego, CA.
The Navy wants to procure a total of 20 TAO-205s. The Navy’s proposed FY2022 budget requests $668.2 million for the procurement of a seventh TAO-205 class ship, and an additional $76.0 million in advance procurement (AP) funding for the procurement of another TAO-205 in a future fiscal year.
Issues for Congress include the following:
- cost growth and schedule delays in the TAO-205 program;
- the potential impact of the COVID-19 situation on the execution of U.S. military shipbuilding programs, including the TAO-205 program;
- whether to procure one TAO-205 class ship (as requested), no TAO-205 class ship, or two TAO-205 class ships in FY2022;
- the total number of TAO-205s the Navy will require in coming years to support its operations, particularly in light of the Navy’s new Distributed Maritime Operations (DMO) operating concept;
- issues regarding the TAO-205 program discussed in a June 2021 Government Accountability Office (GAO) report assessing major DOD acquisition programs; and
- whether to encourage or direct the Navy to build TAO-205s with more ship self-defense equipment than currently planned by the Navy.
Download the document here.
